Ducati concludes Mugello test.

Forgive me if I've misunderstood this- but is this article saying that Sete was quicker than the official Ducati test riders?? By over a second?
I appreciate that's a bike in development and track conditions were a lot warmer, but surely that's a big margin???

If the test rider is that far off the pace, of course the bikes development is suffering. Poor Marco is trying to ride the bike quicker than it goes in testing- that's an uphill battle it seems only Casey can manage...

I think that's astonishing that the Ducati guys are testing their 09 machine for about 2 months now. And the speed that they are getting out of the whole carbon fibre frame/engine packege has to be worying for the Japanese manufacturers. They are for shure 1 year behind Ducati in developement.
Fortunatley this year Casey and the DUKE had some problems mixed with some bad luck, and the championship is a little more interesting for us spectators.
Japanese manufacturers have to be scratching their heads...

I thought there was a testing ban at the moment,so how come Ducati are allowed to test everyday,can someone tell me why.Like i said before they are using Gibbers to develope bike,its all too fishy for me

No doubt Poljachina!!!! It's gonna a be Casey bloodbath next year unless Honda and Yamaha do some serious catching up. Honda aren't even using this years bike until recently: ouch

charlie,..
It's a testing ban for riders, so Casey & Marco can not ride.
All teams can continue to work, but with test riders only, no motogp riders.

I haven't heard anything about the Japanese manufacturers testing at the moment. If they aren't then they have become too complacent I think. Yamaha is just barely maintaining their lead.

It seems to me that Both Yamaha and Honda have chosen not too speak about their work like Ducati does.I have read an interview With Rossi and Yamahas guys and theiy said they will use this time off too work hard on the M1 developments And Honda probably does the same

Non Plussed and Stefan
Japanese testing goes on relentless it is just that you do not hear it in the press. The Japanese own their own tracks in Japan and also the motogp press is Based in Europe so thats is why you only mainly hear about testing there. Also owning their own tracks they can block the media from seeing what is happening.

Even though the riders are banned from Motogp testing they often try out at flat track and supermoto during the break to hone their skills.

Hopefully the Japanese factories are keeping an eye on the Ducati's progress and figure that if Sete can extract decent lap times then Stoner can probably do a little better with the factory's molding of the bike to his needs. My hat's off to Ducati's engineer's and programmers for getting the formula right even if only one of it's riders can extract the most out of it's power and TC at the moment.

I'm surprised that Honda and Yamaha can't match the power of the Duc yet. While I know the Stoner/ducati fanboys will try to provide stats against this. What can't be disputed is the power seen in the straights by the Ducati compared to the other bikes.

One thing to consider re the power differential between the Ducacti and the rest is that the desmo system should in principle suck less power than pneumatic valve springs which are need to be powered by the motor.

While pneumatic system allows the motor to rev higher and therefore develop more power, some of the extra power developed is absorbed just driving that system. The result - the desmo system develops more power than both the valve spring and pneumatic motors.

i disagree,

the desmo has more friction and inertial load, and flex than the pneumatic. the pneumatic is a closed system that feeds thru a bottle. the bottle just needs to last the whole race. ever since the first motogp pneumatic race bike (the Aprilia RS Cube that highsided colin edwards almost every race), the pneumatics always have the capability of higher horsepower than the desmo. their difficulty trying to maintain a flatter torque curve (vital for rideability) when acquiring that higher rev/hp.

read: if desmos can have more power than pneumatics, all F1 engines would run desmos. However, that is not the case. I will leave the conclusion up to you...

I once read about patent that Ducati have over desmo valve.....maybe this is the case....
BUt anyway its too bad if we are not see Gibernau in next race...

duc has patent in the desmo on bikes. but the desmo is not a duc invention. hell, even mercedes have built a desmo engine years ago...

anyway, patents can circumvented. if the technology is really the best, then manufacturers would be willing to pay royalties just to use that technology. I never heard that there is a shortage of budget in F1... They are willing to pay, and they can pay to get access to a technology if that technology can make them win.

Why, why, why continue with Melandri? It's not doing either of the parties any good. For christs sake, sever the ties and let Giblets finish out the season and let Marco party the disappointment out of his system before next season. I can't imagine that anyone is not keen to see how Sete goes and it might even be advantageous to his team mate. It's obviously not feasible for any currently contracted rider to move into the seat, so the move is the best way to go until seasons end. I've never been overly fussed with Sete but it's gotta be the only sensible thing for Ducati to do. If the only reason is their desire to have an Eyetie rider on one of the bikes then they're bloody fools!

Bob – The Ducati race team take the occasional action that defies logic - sacking Baylis for Carlos Chucker for instance. Agree they should drop Marco ASAP to give the guy time to pick himself up. I am sure Gibbers would jump at the chance to work weekends - give him something to do in between sipping champers on his yacht.